Unreached peoples the focus of Lausanne

South Africa (MNN) — Participants of Lausanne seek to see the whole church take the whole Gospel to the whole world. While in decades past it may have seemed impossible, with today's technology — making the world smaller, it may not be as far off as everyone thinks.

Despite that, the stark reality is that one-fourth of the world's people don't have access to the Gospel.

According to one evangelical leader who didn't want to be identified for security reason, 86 percent of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists don't currently know any Christ-followers. Some believe it's because Christians are either too afraid or too isolated to befriend them and show them what the Christian life looks like.

One outreach leader we'll call "Joseph" says the attacks of 9-11 played a significant role in that. "Christians all over the world started looking at the Muslim world, not with deep love and compassion, but with suspicion, doubt, and lots of reservations. If we start looking at the Muslim countries with the eyes of Jesus, we would be incredibly encouraged by what God will do in the Muslim world."

Doctor Simon Vandy from Nepal says his country is a great example of Christians being proactive in reaching the lost for Christ. "In the 1950's, there were about 100 Christians in the whole country. But, now, we estimate there are over 900,000 Christians."

While reaching the Muslim world is a priority, so is reaching urban areas. President of HCJB Global Wayne Pederson says Pastor Tim Keller, author of "Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism," says Christians need to reach the 30 mega-cities of 10 million or more. "If we're going to reach the youth of the world, you need to reach the cities. Church aren't going to the city as fast as the population is growing in these cities."

What is today's focus at Lausanne? "Priorities. Discerning the will of God for evangelism in our time."